July 21/01 10:07 am - Mammoth XC Report, IMBA, Ontario

MAMMOTH LAKES, Calif. (July 20, 2001) - Both Roland Green and Mary Grigson landed convincing victories in the thin air of Mammoth Mountain on Friday. For both riders, the win restored confidence shaken in recent outings.

Canada's Roland Green (Trek/Volkswagen) suffered not one, but two, disappointments by losing consecutive World Cup races because of flat tires. And Grigson (Gary Fisher/Subaru), who stood to tie Juli Furtado's record of six straight NORBA nationals only to struggle with illness at Deer Valley, where she finished second to Caroline Alexander. Facing the longest cross country race of the season, both riders proved themselves to be the best.

WOMEN'S RACEGrigson led from start to finish, riding well both up and downhill on this difficult course. "My legs felt really good today, but this being my fifth straight weekend of racing I felt a bit tired mentally. I had trouble concentrating," said Grigson. "I actually let the bike do a lot of the work on the descents and just had some fun."

Behind Grigson rode her teammate, Chrissy Redden, in solid control of second place.

The race for third, however, proved not so simple. Jimena Florit (RLX-Polo Sport), Ruthie Matthes (Trek/Volkswagen) and Alison Dunlap (GT/Chevy Trucks) each made bids for the third spot. And on the third lap, it appeared Dunlap was done. "On the third lap up the hill I was not feeling good at all," said Dunlap."And then it was like somebody just flipped a switch and I got all this power back in my legs." Dunlap overtook Matthes first and then picked off Florit at the top of the course. She then carried it down the descent.

Grigson finished the 23.5 mile race 1:42 up on Redden, who carried a sizable gap on Dunlap. Florit and Matthes held off a last lap charge from Gina Hall (GT/Zeal) to round out the podium in that order.

MEN'S RACEThe men's race seemed not so clear from the start. Ryder Hesjedal (Gary Fisher/Subaru) drove up the fire road climb on the first lap with a 10-second gap. Behind him rumbled a cautious, if not forceful, field of stars, led by Green.

"I wanted to just settle in see how I felt," said Green. "Ryder and I are both going for the overall so we sort of watched each other." After topping off the fire road, Green hammered up to his fellow British Columbian, and sparked a reaction from Kashi Leuchs (Volvo/Cannondale) and Bart Brentjens (Giant). By the end of the first lap, those four formed a road-like breakaway, pursued by Todd Wells (Broadway Bicycles), Jeremy Horgan Kobelski (RLX Polo Sport) and Pavel Tcherkassov (Gary Fisher/Subaru).

Farther back a number of favorites were content with their position. "Being from sea level, it was my strategy not to go out to hard. You can go at altitude really hard and you're out of the race in 10 minutes," said Seamus McGrath (Haro/Lee Dungarees), who was nowhere near contention early on. "With a race this long and the wind, nobody really wanted to work too hard," said Green. "The competition is so good right now. It's not like everybody goes out and sets a bunch of gaps," said Hesjedal. "You really have to pick when to attack."

After each of the four leaders took showed their cards, Green pulled out four aces. He attacked on the fire road to leave Leuchs dueling with Hesjedal and Brenjens hanging in fourth. Farther back, McGrath pushed up to the wheel of Todd Wells, the sensation of the season. "I just started going on the third, fourth and fifth laps," said McGrath. "I think my fifth lap was my fastest."

At the start of the final lap, Green looked as strong as ever for this 28 mile race. Hesjedal, however, looked rough and fell to fourth place. On the final climb, however, he discovered reserves on the climb, passed a struggling Brentjens and started the fight anew with Leuchs. The pair had been scrapping all day, with Hesjedal strong on the climb and Leuchs better on the descent.

By the end, Green hit the finish line with more than a minute lead on second place. The identity of second remained unknown until the final stretch, when lanky Hesjedal emerged triumphant. Then came Leuchs. All eyes then expected to see Brentjens in fourth. Instead, a grinning McGrath powered around the corner to claim his second podium spot of the series. Brentjens hung for fifth while Wells, in sixth, came in as top American.

IMBA and OCA Host Trail Building School at Kelso Conservation AreaCourtesy Dave Seto

Rich and Jen Edwards, also known as IMBA's Trail Care Crew #3, will be visiting Kelso Conservation Area from August 17 to 19.

They will be leading a Trail Building School with members from various conservation areas, and volunteers from the cycling and hiking Communities.

Want to learn how to build real trails? The kind that don't wash away the first time it rains, or the kind that don't have to be re-routed every couple of seasons due to heavy traffic. Yes? Well then, come out to the trail building school to learn how.

The next OMBI Level 1 certification course will be held August 10/11/12 at Kelso Conservation Area. This is a certification course for intermediate and experienced off-road cyclists who have a desire to teach the skills of mountain biking at a beginner level. OCA certification is a requirement for many institutions teaching learn-to-MTB clinics, and it is strongly encouraged for those people instructing within a local club or store group.

There is a Friday Evening session, followed by two full days of instruction and evaluation.

Information on the courses can be had at the OCA website (www.ontariocycling.org), or you can request a PDF be emailed to you. Course schedule and registration forms are also available by email, fax or snail-mail from the OCA office.